Pubdate: Thu, 16 Feb 2012
Source: Columbian, The (WA)
Copyright: 2012 The Columbian Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.columbian.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/92
Author: Stephanie Rice

COUNTY FAVORS EXTENDING BAN ON MEDICAL POT GARDENS

Clark County commissioners said Wednesday they will extend a 
moratorium on collective medical marijuana gardens.

Adopted last year, the moratorium is set to expire in July.

The gardens are permissible under state law.

But, as reinforced in a letter received by commissioners from the 
U.S. Department of Justice, the gardens are illegal under federal law.

On Wednesday, the commissioners' senior policy advisor, Axel Swanson, 
shared a letter he'd received from the Drug Enforcement 
Administration that said county employees would not be immune from 
prosecution if they do work related to zoning and permitting of the 
collective gardens.

Swanson said he'd already received calls from other local 
governments, wanting a copy of the letter.

Under a state law that took effect July 22, 2011, patients and 
designated providers can come together and plant a collective garden 
with no more than 45 plants.

The gardens became a sticky issue for local governments, which need 
to establish zoning districts where gardens can be located. 
Commissioners set policy for unincorporated areas, which include 
Hazel Dell, Salmon Creek and Felida; the city of Vancouver and 
smaller cities also enacted moratoriums last year.

In December, commissioners sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General 
Eric Holder to ask advice.

Holder's agency had already said state employees would not be immune 
from liability under the Controlled Substances Act.

"Specifically, the Board of Clark County Commissioners wants to know 
whether that would also be true if county employees are asked to 
knowingly zone, review, permit and inspect facilities for producing, 
processing, transporting and delivering medical cannabis. Would the 
Board of Clark County Commissioners or county employees be immune 
from arrest and liability when, in the course of their jobs, they do 
work related to zoning, review of permits and inspections of these facilities?"

In a response from Joseph T. Rannazzisi, deputy assistant 
administrator of the Office of Diversion Control, the answer was 
clear: "anyone who knowingly carries out the marijuana activities 
contemplated by Washington state law, as well as anyone who 
facilitates such activities, or conspires to commit such violations, 
is subject to criminal prosecution as provided in the CSA. That same 
conclusion would apply with equal force to the proposed activities of 
the Board of Clark County Commissioners and Clark County employees."

"Such persons may also be subject to money laundering statutes," 
Rannazzisi added.

Gov. Chris Gregoire vetoed many other sections of a legislative bill 
that was meant to provide a structure to regulate and license the 
use, distribution and processing of medical marijuana. The governor 
left it up to local governments to establish those guidelines.

In 1998, state voters approved Initiative 692, which decriminalized 
the limited use of medical marijuana for patients suffering from a 
terminal or debilitating illness. The law was expanded in 2007 to 
include the definition of diseases and conditions for which marijuana 
could be prescribed.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom